Viscoelastic Properties of Reduced‐fat and Full‐fat Cheddar Cheeses

Viscoelastic properties of cheeses with and without 0.2% or 0.5% (w/w) lecithin were studied using oscillatory dynamic experiments and creep tests. Elastic and loss moduli of reduced‐fat cheese with lecithin were greater (p < 0.01) than reduced‐fat cheese without lecithin, but less (p < 0.01) than these values for full‐fat cheese. In creep/recovery tests, the residual strain of full‐fat cheese, reduced‐fat cheese with 0.5% or 0.2% lecithin, and reduced‐fat cheese without lecithin were 7.8, 7.9, 8.1, and 15.4%, respectively. There was good agreement in terms of compliance behavior of the four types of cheese between experimental data and prediction by the generalized Kelvin model with six elements.